What if And Then There Were None
by Katy M VT
Summary: What if nobody died.  Basically just conversations with the six characters in the cannery.
1. Chapter 1

What if nobody died?

"So, this cannery is what everyone has in common?" Dean asked, when Bobby and Rufus joined him and Sam out on the dock.

"Seems to be," Bobby answered.

"OK, then. Let's check it out," Rufus suggested.

They headed into the cannery keeping an eye out for they knew not what. Suddenly the door came open in front of them and Gwen walked out.

"Dean?" she asked. She hadn't seen either one of them since they had found out Samuel was working for Crowley.

Dean ignored her and looked past her into the room she had just exited. Samuel was standing there. Dean drew his gun, marched in and said, "Welcome to next time."

Sam was right behind him and stepped between his brother and his grandfather and brought down Dean's gun arm.

"I take it you guys know each other," Rufus said, feeling like he was being left out of something.

Bobby wasn't sure who this joker was either, but based on Dean's reaction, he'd be willing to take a guess.

"He's our grandfather," Dean answered Rufus, confirming what Bobby was thinking.

"Awkward family reunion," Rufus muttered.

"What's going on?" Gwen asked. She knew Dean wasn't thrilled when he found out Samuel was working for Crowley, but Samuel had told her Crowley was dead. She was still unclear as to how you killed a demon, but since they had stopped capturing creatures, she had no reason to doubt him.

"Didn't he tell you?" Dean asked. "He sold us out to Crowley. Handed us right over."

"Is that true?" Gwen asked Samuel.

"No. He's lying."

Sam rolled his eyes. True he didn't remember any of this, but he was sure it happened exactly the way Dean said. Plus, Cas had told him that story also.

"Sam, would you get out of the way so I can shoot him?" Dean asked.

"Actually, come to think of it, this is a switch. Last time one of you boys pulled a gun, it was Sam, and Dean stopped him," Samuel noted. He wondered what Sam's angle was. He didn't do anything without a reason. Usually a pretty cold-hearted one.

"Well, that was my mistake," Dean said. "Won't let it happen again."

"Dean," Sam said, in the tone he reserved for when Dean wanted to kill someone.

"Seriously Sam? He tried to kill us!"

"Yeah, well, we've all done things we regret," Sam reasoned. It was true. He wasn't just talking about being soulless. He had started the Apocalypse, drank demon blood, drained an innocent woman of blood while she watched. He could go on and on.

"The question is, does he regret it?" Bobby asked.

"Look, we're here to fight a monster. I assume you people are, too. Maybe we should just do this and stow the family therapy for later," Samuel said.

"Fine. We'll split up," Sam said. "Samuel and I will go together.

"What? Why?" Dean asked.

"So, if you meet up with him I can keep you from killing him," Sam answered. But the truth was he wanted to talk to him. Find out about his lost year.

"Fine. Come on, Gwen," Dean said and pushed out the door, not checking to see if she followed. After a quick glance at Samuel, she did.

"We'll go the opposite direction," Sam said.

"Guess that leaves this way for us," Bobby said.

SSS

Five minutes later, an alarm sounded and all the doors in the place slammed shut.

Sam tried to open the door of the room that he and Samuel were currently in. It wouldn't budge. "Guess we're stuck here for a while."

"Guess so," Samuel responded. Sam made him nervous. He always had. He could never understand how something so cold and unfeeling could have come from his Mary. He had assumed it was the Winchester in him until he had found out about the lack of soul.

"So, tell me what I did when we were hunting together," Sam said.

"What?" Samuel asked.

"Dean got me my soul back, but I can't remember from before. I had one memory. It was pretty bad. I need to know what else I did."

"I thought you seemed different," Samuel admitted. "What was the one thing you remembered?"

"The arachni hunt."

"That was pretty bad," Samuel said. "You just shot all those people in cold blood."

"I know. Believe me when I tell you that that's not like me at all." At least he hoped it wasn't. Who knew if there was residual evil if you lost your soul and got it back? Not like it happened to a lot of people.

"So, you really want to know what else you did?" Samuel asked.

"Yes," Sam said. He knew Dean would kill him if he found out that he was asking about this. Talk about scratching a wall. But he had to know.

"I don't know if there's much point into going into specifics. Let's just say you never cared who got in the line of fire as long as you got the job done," Samuel said.

"Why didn't you try to stop me?" Sam asked. That had been the burning question he had had since remembering that one hunt. Sure, he had actually done all the bad stuff, but Samuel had just stood by and watched. Maybe made a snarky comment. Nothing to either try to stop Sam, or at least stop working with him.

"I needed to get the job done, too. You know I was working with Crowley to get your mother back, right?"

"Right," Sam said. He had learned the hard way not to work with demons. Too bad Samuel hadn't been able to learn from his mistakes.

"Well, as cold as you were, you were a great hunter. I'd never seen any better, and that's saying a lot. I guess I was willing to do whatever, too, to get Mary back. The same way that Dean would do anything for you, I would do anything for Mary."

"Well, as guilty as I felt for Dean selling his soul for me, imagine Mom's guilt of her sons being sold for her."

"I know you're right. I've had a lot of time to think in the last couple of months and if I had it to do over again, I would tell Crowley to take a hike the second I met him."

Sam nodded. It was a start.


	2. Chapter 2

"So, did Samuel really hand you over to Crowley?" Gwen asked. She was having such a hard time coming to terms with this. Samuel was a hunter, but he was like a kindly grandfather figure, too. He had never been anything but good to her.

"Yes, Gwen. He really did," Dean said angrily. "He didn't even blink. That's the guy you're rolling with."

"Well, I didn't know anything about that," she defended herself.

"I know," Dean admitted. He did know that, too. He didn't know Gwen well, but he knew her well enough to know she had a code of honor and family loyalty. "You said once that you thought you reminded Samuel of his daughter. Why did you say that?" Dean was just curious. Even after all of his time travel, he really didn't know his mother.

"He said I was like her in some ways, had a caring heart, not afraid to speak my mind, could kick ass as well as any guy."

Dean smiled at that. He remembered how his mother had almost taken him down.

"He really loved her," Gwen commented.

"I know that," Dean said. He had seen that first hand when the yellow eyed demon had taken her hostage. There was no doubt about that. "I'm just not so sure how she would feel about him right now."

"She'd probably be mad, but she'd still love him. No matter what my dad did, I would never be able to stop loving him," Gwen said.

Dean thought about all the crap his father had done and realized Gwen was right.

SSS

"We need to find a way to bust out of this room," Bobby said.

"Well, what did you have in mind?" Rufus asked.

"I don't know, but we should go in guns blazing."

"Like in Omaha?" Rufus asked. He still hated Bobby for that.

"Screw you for bring up Omaha," Bobby said. He knew he had messed up. He knew that he had cost Rufus everything. But Rufus had been punishing him for it for the past 15 years. But then again, if he had had someone to blame for Karen's death, how long would he have punished them?

"My wife died in childbirth, Bobby. My daughter was all I had and she died because of you." Rufus had never actually said the words before. It felt good to get them out in the open.

"Rufus, I know I messed up. If I could have taken it all back, I would have," Bobby said softly.

"But, you can't, Bobby. In this job, you're lucky if you get two seconds to make a decision and the results can last a lifetime. But, I told you we need to do more research first. You're the one who wanted to go in "guns blazing" as usual."

"I've come to value research much more since then," Bobby said.

"Too bad it's too late to do Rachel any good. It doesn't matter what you do or what you say. I can never forgive you. For a while, I thought maybe I had been too harsh, been wrong in keeping a grudge. That's why I called you when Bela Talbot contacted me like you asked me to. Plus, it was just a phone call and it wasn't for you. Not really. It was for Dean. Then I had to bury a body quick near your place, so I figured I owed you one and I helped you find Crowley's son and his bones. But, each time I did something for you, I couldn't help think that you didn't deserve my help."

"You're right," Bobby said.

"Saying that doesn't make it any better."

The door swung open then and Bobby and Rufus headed out back to where they had left everyone else. The others had the same idea and they came together.

"Everybody OK?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. What happened?" Dean asked. If it was a monster attack it seemed to be pretty pointless as everyone was still fine.

"Electrical malfunction?" Rufus suggested. "Not everything has to be supernatural.

Sam realized that sometimes they did seem to overcomplicate everything. But just as he was thinking that, they heard screams coming from several directions.

Bobby and Sam ran one way, Dean and Samuel another and Rufus and Gwen yet another. Nobody found anything, but once more alarms came on and they were all locked inside whatever room they found themselves in.

SSS

"Bobby," Sam said.

"What?" Bobby ground out. He was only putting up with Sam for Dean's sake. He was still pissed that a kid he treated as his own would try to kill him.

"I'm really sorry," he said.

"Sorry don't cut it, kid." Then Bobby remembered Rufus. He would give anything for Rufus to forgive him. Sam probably felt the same way. "You know what? Never mind. It does. I forgive you."

"Really?" Sam asked. That seemed kind of easy.

"It wasn't you," Bobby said, parroting Dean's party line.

"Yes, it was," Sam said. "It might not have been all of me, but it was me. It's not like I was possessed or anything."

"You were kind of the opposite of possessed. You were missing a crucial part. Who knows what any of us would do without our souls? You didn't have any choice in losing yours, so it's not your fault," Bobby said, finally getting the logic of it all.

"Maybe you're right," Sam said, doubtfully. "But, I still feel guilty for everything I did, so whatever you need me to do to make it up to you, consider it done."

"Hmm. I"ll have to think on that one," Bobby said, smiling an evil little smile.

Sam didn't care what Bobby came up with. He owed him a lot.


	3. Chapter 3

"So, how long have you known Sam and Dean?" Gwen asked Rufus.

"I met Dean a few years ago, briefly. He was looking for somebody. Then, I met up with both the boys on what we thought was a demon thing and it turned out to be War."

"War?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah, the horsemen, War."

"That's above my skill level," Gwen admitted.

"That's above everybody's skill level," Rufus assured her.

"So, this is only your second time working with them?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. Why?"

"I don't know. I've only worked with Dean a couple of times myself. He's like a mystery to me."

"Dean's not as complicated as everybody makes him out to be. We had a real heart-to-heart before I sent him on his way that first time. Dean is all about family and self-sacrifice. You know he sold his soul to save Sam, right?"

"No, I didn't know that," Gwen said. She couldn't think of anybody she would sell her soul for. That was just crazy to do, not selfish not to do as far as she was concerned. "So, that's how he ended up in Hell the first time?"

"You knew he was in Hell, but you didn't know about the demon deal?" Rufus asked, thinking that odd.

"Sam told us about Dean's stint in Hell because we were torturing creatures to get info and Sam was relating a little trick that Dean had learned down under. He didn't say why he was there, though, and none of us thought to ask. Sam was a little scary back then and if he didn't volunteer information, you didn't go looking for it."

"So, you didn't like him, I take it?" Rufus asked.

"Not really. But he was Samuel's grandson, so I pretended to."

"I know all about pretending," Rufus said, cryptically.

Gwen was going to ask him what he meant, but something in his manner told her not to.

SSS

"I ought to kill you here and now," Dean said to Samuel.

"Whatever, Dean. Look, I'm sorry I turned you over to Crowley. But, I really miss your mother."

"I miss her, too, but you can't sacrifice other people for other people," Dean said, wondering if that made sense.

"I know. I was just desperate. Dean, you don't know what it's like to lose a child and I hope you never do. You're not supposed to outlive your children."

"Well, technically you didn't. You came back to life after she was gone."

"Yeah, well for some odd reason, there's not a saying about that. You know, I liked you when I first met you. Before I died."

"I liked you back then, too," Dean admitted.

"Sam, on the other hand. I tried to like him because he's Mary's son and he was helping me, but it was hard. Are you telling me that he's really nothing like he was in the time I was with him?"

"Well, Sam's just as smart as RoboSam, but that's pretty much the only similarity. He has changed a lot in the last few years, though," Dean admitted. He was thinking that the Sam of today barely resembled the Sam that he had gone to Stanford to get just six years ago. And it wasn't because of how out of control his hair had become. But speaking of that, he resolved to get on Sam's case about a haircut.

"How so?" Samuel asked, interrupting Dean's follicle thoughts.

"I don't know. It's hard to put my finger on any one thing. He's a lot more confident than he used to be, but that probably just comes from age. He used to hate hunting, but now I think he kind of likes it."

"Hard to imagine Sam hating hunting," Samuel said.

Dean smiled. "Believe me, it's true. As soon as he was 18, he left. Didn't hear from him for four years until I went to get him to help me find Dad."

"Find your father? Where was he?" Samuel asked.

"Hunting the yellow-eyed demon. Guess he ditched me to keep me safe."

"So, Sam just left to go find him. Guess he has some family loyalty after all." Even if it's the wrong branch of the family, Samuel thought to himself.

"No. Not exactly. He went off with me for the weekend to look for him. We didn't find him, though, and Sam said he couldn't help any more because he had a law school interview on Monday." Dean had never wanted to think about it before, but Sam would have been a great lawyer. Nobody could argue like him and juries would eat up his puppy dog eyes.

"That was selfish."

"I used to think so, too. But it wasn't. Not really. Nobody in their right mind wants this life. Sam would have helped people a different way."

"So, what happened? He didn't get into law school and decided hunting was a good back up?"

"No. When I took him back home that night, his girlfriend was burning alive on the ceiling. Just like Mom did. And like Dad, Sam became all about revenge."

"I didn't know about that," Samuel said.

"I'm not surprised. Probably wasn't all that important to RoboSam. But believe me, Jessica was the love of his life. He was messed up for a while after that. Nightmares, guilt, grief, everything. There were times I wasn't sure he would make it."

Hearing that, Samuel thought maybe he had misjudged his grandson after all. Once more, the doors swung open.

They all met in the same place again.

"Sun's coming up," Rufus said. "We should leave."

"Weird that nothing happened here last night," Gwen remarked.

But that wasn't entirely true. A lot had happened. Bobby and Sam had patched up their relationship. Bobby and Rufus had permanently severed theirs. And Samuel came to see his grandsons as his grandsons. Not as people put in his path to hinder the return of his daughter.

The End


End file.
